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CHAPTER 18

Paul in Corinth.1After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.
2There he met a Jew named Aquila,a a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla* because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. He went to visit them
3and, because he practiced the same trade, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
4Every sabbath, he entered into discussions in the synagogue, attempting to convince both Jews and Greeks.

5When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began to occupy himself totally with preaching the word, testifying to the Jews that the Messiah was Jesus.
6When they opposed him and reviled him, he shook out his garments* and said to them, “Your blood be on your heads! I am clear of responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”b7So he left there and went to a house belonging to a man named Titus Justus, a worshiper of God;* his house was next to a synagogue.c8Crispus,* the synagogue official,d came to believe in the Lord along with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard believed and were baptized.
9e One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, “Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent,
10for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city.”
11He settled there for a year and a half and taught the word of God among them.

Accusations before Gallio.12But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia,* the Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him to the tribunal,
13saying, “This man is inducing people to worship God contrary to the law.”*14When Paul was about to reply, Gallio spoke to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or malicious fraud, I should with reason hear the complaint of you Jews;
15but since it is a question of arguments over doctrine and titles and your own law, see to it yourselves. I do not wish to be a judge of such matters.”
16And he drove them away from the tribunal.
17They all seized Sosthenes, the synagogue official, and beat him in full view of the tribunal. But none of this was of concern to Gallio.

Return to Syrian Antioch.18Paul remained for quite some time, and after saying farewell to the brothers he sailed for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cutf because he had taken a vow.*19When they reached Ephesus, he left them there, while he entered the synagogue and held discussions with the Jews.
20Although they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent,
21but as he said farewell he promised, “I shall come back to you again, God willing.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
22Upon landing at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church* and then went down to Antioch.
23* After staying there some time, he left and traveled in orderly sequence through the Galatian country and Phrygia, bringing strength to all the disciples.

Apollos.24A Jew named Apollos,g a native of Alexandria, an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus. He was an authority on the scriptures.*25He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and, with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John.
26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the Way (of God)* more accurately.
27And when he wanted to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. After his arrival he gave great assistance to those who had come to believe through grace.
28He vigorously refuted the Jews in public, establishing from the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus.

* [18:2] Aquila…Priscilla: both may already have been Christians at the time of their arrival in Corinth (see Acts 18:26). According to 1 Cor 16:19, their home became a meeting place for Christians. Claudius: the Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome ca. A.D. 49. The Roman historian Suetonius gives as reason for the expulsion disturbances among the Jews “at the instigation of Chrestos,” probably meaning disputes about the messiahship of Jesus.

* [18:6] Shook out his garments: a gesture indicating Paul’s repudiation of his mission to the Jews there; cf. Acts 28:17–31.

* [18:8] Crispus: in 1 Cor 1:14 Paul mentions that Crispus was one of the few he himself baptized at Corinth.

* [18:12] When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia: Gallio’s proconsulship in Achaia is dated to A.D. 51–52 from an inscription discovered at Delphi. This has become an important date in establishing a chronology of the life and missionary work of Paul.

* [18:13] Contrary to the law: Gallio (Acts 18:15) understands this to be a problem of Jewish, not Roman, law.

* [18:18] He had his hair cut because he had taken a vow: a reference to a Nazirite vow (see Nm 6:1–21, especially, 6:18) taken by Paul (see also Acts 21:23–27).

* [18:22] He went up and greeted the church: “going up” suggests a visit to the church in Jerusalem.

* [18:23–21:16] Luke’s account of Paul’s third missionary journey devotes itself mainly to his work at Ephesus (Acts 19:1–20:1). There is a certain restiveness on Paul’s part and a growing conviction that the Spirit bids him return to Jerusalem and prepare to go to Rome (Acts 19:21).

* [18:24, 25] Apollos appears as a preacher who knows the teaching of Jesus in the context of John’s baptism of repentance. Aquila and Priscilla instruct him more fully. He is referred to in 1 Cor 1:12; 3:5–6, 22.

* [18:26] The Way [of God]: for the Way, see note on Acts 9:2. Other manuscripts here read “the Way of the Lord,” “the word of the Lord,” or simply “the Way.”

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